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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512872">Believe (In) Us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RECHerondale/pseuds/RECHerondale'>RECHerondale</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>9-1-1 🔥 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Married Buddie, Not Beta Read, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Secret Relationship, Shannon is alive, not intentionally secret</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:27:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512872</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RECHerondale/pseuds/RECHerondale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>His team don’t believe in him. Hell, his own family doesn’t believe in him.<br/>They never believe in him.<br/>Not yet.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>9-1-1 🔥 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870432</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>174</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>806</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Believe (In) Me</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this is set in season 1, and I seriously messed up the timelines to make this work - sorry, not sorry.<br/>So, in this timeline that I've created, there are some major things you should keep in mind -<br/>- Buck didn't hook up with any rando's<br/>- Abby just doesn't exist<br/>- Shannon is alive<br/>- Maddie is already in LA<br/>- Some scenes will be borrowed from other seasons for the purpose of the story</p><p>I hope you enjoy it and, as always, all comments and kudos are appreciated.<br/>Definitely love all the feedback I can get so... 😇</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Evan “Buck" Buckley knows the kind of vibes he gives off, knows all about the picture his methods of self-expression must paint him to look like. He’s also well acquainted with the fact that some people, women predominantly, see him – his looks, or his aura, or something- and come to the conclusion that he’s easy, open to getting down and dirty with anyone willing to give him a second of their time to blow off some steam.</p><p>However, contrary to the vastly popular opinion, he is <em>not</em> a fuckboy, a man-whore, or whatever other terms people are using nowadays. In fact, Buck is one of the most loyal, faithful people in the firehouse. All the advances that have been thrown his way over his time with the team have all been rebuffed, not once has he taken any of them up on their offers; his heart already belongs to another.</p><p>Not that anyone believes him.</p><p>-</p><p>“- You can never show this to a girl.” The young firefighter states, his hands waving towards the profile pulled up on the screen as he talks.</p><p>“Why not?” Bobby implores, glancing at Chimney to see if the other firefighter agrees with their youngest member.</p><p>“Okay, this profile is a joke profile for a guy no one ever wants to go out with-“</p><p>Chim clears his throat, cutting off the blonde before he can dig a bigger hole for himself with his callous wording. “You know what? Maybe <em>you</em> are not the right person he should be taking dating advice from, Buckaroo.”</p><p>“And, why is that? Because, last time I checked, I’m in a stable, monogamous relationship with an amazing person. Hey, I’m the healthiest dater at this whole table.”</p><p>There’s a charged pause as Hen, Chimney and Bobby exchange glances, their expression morphing into reluctant acceptance. Buck doesn’t need to hear their thoughts to know that they don’t believe him. They never have. They just go along with it for his benefit, probably as tired with the same argument as he is.</p><p>Chimney, as ever, is the one to break the quiet. “Oh my God, he’s right.”</p><p>“The world has turned upside down.” Hen jokingly states, making them all laugh.</p><p>“Yeah, okay, laugh, huh?” Buck joins in, grinning at his team.</p><p>Before they can continue their discussions, the alarm comes to life, ringing out across the firehouse and sending all of the on-call firefighters scrambling for their gear, Bobby dropping off the laptop in his office before joining his team to put his turnout gear on. Duty calls.</p><p>~~~~</p><p>The call takes longer than any of them had thought it would. A multiple car collision on one of the busiest freeways in Los Angeles resulted in multiple injuries, of differing levels of severity, and they had to grapple with the delayed arrival of any backup because of traffic and the other team having to travel from quite a distance away because all of the closer teams and houses were busy with other calls.</p><p>Buck shucks his jacket after jumping down from the truck, hearing one of the other guys – Reynolds, he thinks – getting out behind him and slamming the door, wiping the sweat off his brow and grimacing at the state of himself, already making plans to shower as soon as debrief is over. A glance at his watch informs him that his shift is mostly over, only half-hour or so left and that will be taken up by the debrief and shower – so long as no other calls come in that push them all into overtime.</p><p>He changes out of his turnout gear quickly, using a wet wipe from a pack in his locker to give his face and arms a cursory wipe over, before joining his team where they’ve amassed upstairs, seated around the loft as they look to Bobby for him to go over everything. He does a headcount, nodding to himself when he finally accounts for everyone, before starting.</p><p>Buck listens as they go over the usual stuff – their response time, the quality of their teamwork, number of victims they dealt with altogether, how well they coped in the circumstances they were working with - and all the other stuff they cover after every call. The young firefighter lets the words wash over him, taking them in but not dwelling on them as his mind starts to wander; his body finally starting to catch up with the fatigue that’s been picking at the edge of his concentration for the last few hours of his shift.</p><p>He startles when a hand lands on his shoulder, quickly looking up from where his gaze had absently landed on a coffee cup stain on the table. His tense muscles relax when he meets the gaze of Hen, seeing her frowning slightly in concern at him.</p><p>“You okay, Buckaroo?”</p><p>He nods, sending the woman a tired shrug. “Yeah, just starting to feel the shift catching up with me.”</p><p>She nods in understanding, patting his shoulder before nudging him towards the stairs with her. As they make their way down the stairs together, Buck looks towards the front of the station and lets out a sigh of relief when he sees some of the guys from the next shift arriving. Hen seems to share his sentiments when he nods for her to notice it too when she glances at him in question at the sound of his sigh.</p><p>They go their separate ways after grabbing their casuals from their lockers to change into after their showers, Buck taking an extra minute or so to savour the warm water running over his tired muscles in rivulets before falling to the ground and being swept away by the current of water towards the drain. Once he’s finished getting dressed, fiddling with the chain he wears under his uniform that contains his ring since he can’t wear it on duty to check it’s still intact before making sure it’s safely under his shirt again, for now, he takes a seat on the bench of the locker room to tie his shoes while he powers up his phone, having turned it off earlier and left it in his locker so he could better focus on his shift.</p><p>He can’t help the fond smile that lights up his tired features as the device pings to let him know about a text message that came through minutes ago, while he was in the shower.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Hey Cari</em></strong>
  <strong><em>ño, I know you might not be able to reply for a while but I wanted to let you know that you don’t have to worry about cooking tonight, I already got it covered (And no, I didn’t make it, I ordered it from that place you like). I love you, mi sol. Stay safe.</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>His thumb strokes the side of the phone as he rereads the message before tapping the text box to open his keyboard.</p><p> </p><p><em>Thank you. I love you too &lt;3 I can’t wait to get home to my favorite boys </em> <em>😉</em></p><p> </p><p>His reply is short and pretty simple, but it also says everything he needs to say right now. Everything else, all the things he doesn’t say, are things that are common knowledge between the pair by now so they stay unsaid. He focuses on the screen again when his phone notifies him that he’s received a reply.</p><p><strong> <em>We both</em> </strong> <strong> <em> know which one of us is your actual favorite 😜</em> </strong></p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Our little superman is the cutest so, of course I play slight favorites. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Slight? 😂</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Yeah, slight.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong><em>Okay, that’s 100% totally believable. </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>What about me? What is my rating?</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>… Meh.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Meh? Meh?? 😡</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>He gets rated as “the cutest” and all I get “meh”?</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Wow. So glad I have you in my life. </em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Such a confidence boost</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>You really know how to make a guy feel special</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I still love you 😇</em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Yeah, whatever 😜</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong> <em>I love you too, Evan</em> </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>😊😊😊</em>
</p><p>He looks up when he hears shuffling in the doorway, seeing Hen watching him with a look on her face that he’s seen on the teams' faces many times before, already expecting the next words out of her mouth before she even gets the chance to say them.</p><p>“Another hot date?”</p><p>He shakes his head to himself, standing up and slipping his phone in his pocket before grabbing his duffle from the bench next to him. He joins her as they both walk towards the car park, noting that Chimney has already left but Cap’s car is still present so he must be in his office or making food for the next team before he goes home.</p><p>“I’d say no, but we both know you wouldn’t believe me.” He sees her frown, the conflict clear on her face as she tries to decide if it’s best to say something or if she should pretend not to have heard. “I’m sorry, I’m tired and I guess it’s making me snappy.”</p><p>She sends him a tight smile. “We all know that feeling all too well. Get some sleep, Buck, and I’ll see you next shift if not before then.”</p><p>He nods, repeating her subtle order to sleep back to her and smiling as she laughs and agrees. They reach their cars soon after, Hen pulling him into a short side hug before diverting to get in her own car as Buck climbs into the front of his Jeep, dumping his bag on the passenger seat. He checks his phone one last time, fiddling with the car keys in his lap with his other hand, only seeing a short message telling him to drive safe which he replies with a thumbs-up emoji to, before also putting that down on the seat as well and putting the keys in the ignition. With a quick adjustment of his mirrors, he begins his drive home, exhausted but ready to spend what’s left of his day with the two guys that mean the most to him.</p><p>~~~~</p><p>The first thing Buck does when he pulls into the driveway is pull off the chain to retrieve his ring, sliding it on and sighing at the feeling of completion the small piece of jewellery has given him since it was first put there, before putting the chain back around his neck, sans ring until his next shift, and getting out of the car after grabbing his stuff to take inside. He looks around as he locks his car after parking in the doorway, having heard the front door clicking open. There, highlighted by the lights coming from inside the house is his other half, his soulmate, his partner in everything – his husband.</p><p>“Edmundo!” He greets with over-exaggerated enthusiasm. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”</p><p>The older man gives him an amused look before waving him over to come inside. “Yeah – you’re not fooling anyone.”</p><p>“I love you,” Buck says in a sing-song tone as he grins, leaning to give the shorter man a peck on the lips as he passes him, pausing briefly to toe-off his boots and place them on the shoe rack, before following him deeper into the house. “Mmm, it smells good in here – have you two already eaten?” He asks as he follows Eddie to the kitchen.</p><p>“Yeah – we waited for as long as we could but, with traffic and the potential for a late call, I already knew the chances of you making it in time was going to be slim. Chris was all for waiting longer but his stomach had other ideas.” Eddie informs him as he prepares a plate for the blonde, putting it in the microwave to heat up.</p><p>“Talking about Chris, where is he?” Buck frowns, glancing through the doorway to the living room and looking back to Eddie when he doesn’t see the boy in the other room. “I haven't missed bedtime again, have I?” He checks the time displayed on the cooker for confirmation.</p><p>Eddie smiles, shaking his head as he pulls the food out of the microwave when it signals it’s done. “No, he’s still up.” The pair move to the dining room table before he continues talking as Buck eats. “Dinner got messy so I got him in the shower earlier than usual and left him to change just before you pulled up. He should be done any minute.”</p><p>Buck nods, reframing from talking since he was brought up to be respectful of manners. Talking with food in your mouth was a major offence in his childhood home, his parent’s strict on that kind of “impolite” behaviour – their way of saying “disgusting habits” without actually having to say the words. Eddie knows this, happy enough to fill in the silence even though he’s not much of a talker usually.</p><p>“He’s already got this evening’s movie picked out, which he’ll no doubt fall asleep watching.” Eddie chuckles, before shrugging to himself. “At least he’ll be in his pajamas already so we won’t have to disturb him to get him changed, we can just put him straight in his bed.”</p><p>He goes on to tell Buck what he had gotten up to while the younger male was at work, telling the blonde all about their trip to the park and that Abeula has requested their presence for dinner at her house on the weekend. They already knew about the weekend plans with Abeula, but the older Diaz loves to remind her grandson multiple times throughout the week just so he can’t use the excuse that he forgot to ever get out of it – not that they’ve ever tried since they all love her cooking.</p><p>Buck takes a moment to wipe his mouth on a napkin once he’s finished eating before verbally replying to his partner. “Seems like you two had a lot of fun without me.”</p><p>“You were missed – don’t worry.” Eddie smiles, getting up and collecting the dirty dish to wash. Buck follows him back into the kitchen, leaning back against the counter after getting himself and Eddie a beer each out of the fridge, admiring the other man while he’s distracted as he sips from the sweating bottle in his hand, picking at the label idly between sips as his thoughts wander. “Chris wanted to send you a billion texts and pictures from the park so I had to convince him that we’d get you in a lot of trouble if you got distracted at work.”</p><p>Before Buck can even formulate a response, the all too familiar clicks of crutches moving across the floor bring their attention to the arrival of their little superman. The boy breaks out into a wide grin, trying to speed up as he catches sight of the other occupant in the kitchen. “Bucky!”</p><p>The blonde firefighter places his beer on the counter behind himself before moving closer to the boy, stooping down enough to swing the boy up into his arms without knocking anything with Christopher’s crutches, hugging the boy back as vigorously as the boy is hugging him with gleefully giggling in his ear.</p><p>“I feel like you grow a little more every time I look away.” Buck jokes as the boy leans back in his arms a little so they can see each other’s faces. “Have you gotten bigger since I left? I think you have. How old are you now?” He teases, loving the sound of Christopher’s laughter in response.</p><p>“No,” The boy giggles, squirming as Buck tickles him slightly. “I’m still seven, I promise.”</p><p>Buck pretends to think about it before smiling. “I believe you, superman.”</p><p>He carries the boy towards his father, seeing the amused glance Eddie sends him when he sees Christopher still in Buck’s arms as he turns around, drying his hands on the dishtowel. Chris is very vocal about not wanting to be carried or held for too long whenever Eddie does it but laps up all the attention whenever Buck is the one to do it. Clearly, Buck isn’t the only one that plays favourites, but the older man loves the fact his son loves Buck as much as, if not more, than he does.</p><p>“Is everything set up for movie time?” The Latino asks, wrapping his arm around Buck’s waist as his other hand hover’s behind Chris for support in case he wriggles too much – not that he thinks Buck would ever drop his son, he loves him too much.</p><p>“Yup.” Chris nods vigorously, tightening his grip on Buck when the man starts to walk, following Eddie as he leads the way to the living room.</p><p>As Chris said, everything is set up – snacks already on the table, Eddie carrying in their beers and setting them on the table either side of Chris’ juice box, and the movie is queued up on the screen already. Buck waits for Eddie to sit down first and get comfortable before carefully placing Chris down next to him, taking his crutches for him and placing them nearby in case the boy needs to get up for any reason, before seating himself in the available space on the boy’s other side and smiling as the boy snuggles against his side, leaning down the kiss the boy’s curls before turning his attention to the movie that Eddie is just pressing the play button for now that they’re all settled.</p><p>~~~~</p><p>By the time they’re three-quarters of the way through the movie, as Eddie predicted, Christopher is a solid weight against the blonde’s side with the blonde’s arm around him, soft snores escaping each time the boy breathes. Buck, having stopped watching the movie a while ago, can’t help but watch the boy peacefully sleeping with a soft look, taking in the moment and savouring it as he thinks back to his younger days when he wasn’t sure he’d ever get to experience this.</p><p>“Hey,” He hears his partner call softly as to not wake the boy between them, the brunette’s fingers reaching to play with the small curls growing in at the nape of Buck’s neck as his hair grows out from it’s usually short, shaved style on the sides and back. “What are you thinking about?”</p><p>Buck takes a second to answer, trying to word it in a way that doesn’t sound depressing. “How lucky I am to get this – with anyone.”</p><p>Eddie nods softly, already knowing all about Buck’s thoughts from when he was younger, from when he wasn’t sure he’d ever get to have a family to call his own in any way, having already had that discussion way back when they were still just dating.</p><p>“We’re lucky to have you as well,” Eddie continues when he sees the look on Buck’s face, the slight doubt that he brings all that much to the relationship other than more emotional baggage – Buck’s words, not Eddie’s. “You’ve been part of our family since well before our first proper date. Chris <em>loves</em> you like another father, and I know that you would do anything for him too. Whether you believe me or not, I can guarantee that there’s no other person I could ever dream of raising my son with – not with everything that has happened over the past few years.”</p><p>Buck blushes, ducking his head to hide his reddened cheeks in Christopher’s curls. “Stop, or you’re going to make me cry.”</p><p>The brunette smiles, leaning over to kiss the blonde’s head, lingering close as Buck looks up before meeting him in the middle and humming contently under his breath as their lips meet, loving the feeling of their lips always seeming to fit together like two puzzle pieces reuniting to make their full picture. They pull always slowly, Buck darting in for one last teasing kiss before just pressing their foreheads together, breathing in the air between them as they look into each other’s eyes, savouring the moment before it can be broken by any outside influence. Buck has gotten used to the idea that quiet, intimate moments with your other half are few and far between when you have a kid.</p><p>Eventually, they accept fate and let their peace end. Eddie sets about turning off the TV while Buck carefully picks up Chris and carries him to his room. He crouches and places the sleeping boy in his bed gently before pulling the duvet over him, smiling as the boy nuzzles against his pillow in his sleep and lets out a content sigh. He takes another second to just watch the boy and take him and the moment in, before leaning down to a press a kiss to the sleep-warm skin of Christopher’s forehead, running his fingertips through the boy’s curls one last time while mumbling that he loves him, before quietly getting up and turning in time to see Eddie leaning against the doorway, watching him interact with their son.</p><p>The other man enters the room to say a goodnight of his own to the boy while Buck pauses by the doorway to take his turn watching their interaction, before Eddie meets him by the doorway and leads him out of the room with a warm palm against his lower back, pulling the door closed until it’s ajar behind them. The pair make their way to their room, changing into their sleepwear in comfortable silence, before heading into the bathroom to brush their teeth together before bed. As Buck watches Eddie in the mirror, the other man pulling funny faces at him while brushing his teeth every time he catches Buck’s gaze, he is struck by how domestic they’ve become over the years, and how this is a side of him that nobody outside of this house even believes exists.</p><p>As they settle in bed, he turns on his side to watch Eddie as the older man settles next to him. This man has shown Buck a different side of himself that he wasn’t sure existed until he met Eddie, a side of him that nobody but Eddie believes in, and that small realisation stings more than he thought it would.</p><p>His team don’t believe in him. Hell, his own family doesn’t believe in him.</p><p>They don’t believe that <em>he</em> could settle down.</p><p>They don’t believe that <em>he</em> could ever find someone to build a life with.</p><p>They don’t believe in <em>him</em>.</p><p>They <em>never</em> believe in him.</p><p>Their lack of belief lead him to not believe in <em>himself</em> for a long time. But, he believes now. He just wishes he could get them to believe in him too.</p><p>“Evan – do you want to talk about it?”</p><p>The sound of his husband’s voice makes Buck blink back to the present, seeing the other man turned on his side watching him as he got lost in his spiralling thoughts. He doesn’t know what to say, to get the thoughts out of his mind, to stop the man from worrying about him. However, they’ve talked about hiding things before. It has never gone well for either of them during romantic endeavours with other partners, so communication is important to both of them.</p><p>“They still don’t believe me.”</p><p>Eddie reaches out, his fingers gently skimming Buck’s cheek as he listens intently. He never interrupts, always listens to whatever Buck has to say, and the younger man appreciates it wholeheartedly.</p><p>“Bobby made one of those profiles on a dating website and I happened to see it,” Buck speaks aloud as he remembers earlier’s conversation. “I was joking around about some of the parts – which I know wasn’t nice and I owe him an apology when I see him next – talking about how cheesy a part of it was and teasing him that he probably shouldn't show that to anyone he wants to actually date and – they all just wrote me off as the dumb kid that doesn’t know anything about a serious relationship.” He grips Eddie’s wrist as he meets the older man’s gaze. “I try so hard but it’s never enough, I just get waved off and things said that insinuate that I don’t know what I’m talking about.”</p><p>Eddie shushes him reassuringly, pulling the blonde into his arms and rubbing his back in calming circles as Buck buries his face in the other man’s neck, holding onto his husband tightly. He waits for Buck to calm down a little before speaking lowly to him, for the blonde’s ears only. “You’re <em>none</em> of those things. What you <em>are</em> is smart, loving, trustworthy, and so, <em>so</em> loved. You’re an amazing father, and the best husband I could ever ask for, and it makes me so mad that nobody else is willing to see that. But, I promise you, you’re not a “dumb kid that doesn’t know anything about a serious relationship” because I’d say we’re pretty damn serious and I have never doubted you or had second thoughts about having you in our family, or about marrying you, for a second.”</p><p>Buck sobs, nodding against the warm skin he’s pressed his face too. Eddie always knows what to say when Buck’s doubts are getting to him, when the doubts from his friends, his team, are weighing on him. It’s one of the many reasons he loves the other man. “I love you. So much.”</p><p>“Yo tambien te quiero, mi amor.” Eddie whispers, nudging Buck back enough to press a soft kiss to his nose which he knows will make the younger man giggle, smiling when it has the desired effect. “Get some sleep, we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow.”</p><p>Buck hums happily at the reminder of their plans for the next morning  - they’re taking Christopher to the zoo where Buck has booked them a special session to feed the giraffes, which Christopher is going to find out about tomorrow morning when they surprise him with the news during breakfast. “I can’t wait.”</p><p>“The faster you fall asleep, the faster it’ll get here,” Eddie replies, using a phrase he’s heard Buck say to Christopher on multiple occasions when he’s been excited about something happening. “Goodnight, mi sol.”</p><p>Buck smiles, leaning in as Eddie meets him in the middle. There’s nothing heated about this kiss, just pure love being exchanged before they separate, snuggling close to each other after Eddie quickly checks that their alarm is set for the morning.</p><p>“Goodnight.” The blonde whispers against his husband's chest as he rests his head against it with his arm over the other man’s waist as Eddie lies on his back. Eddie’s only response is to squeeze him a little bit tighter to him with the arm he has around Buck’s back.</p><p>No matter what he’s been through during the day, ending it in bed with Eddie like this and Chris sleeping peacefully in the other room, is the best feeling in the world. The only way he ever wants to end each day for the rest of his life. With his family.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm marking it as complete for now but I might do a second part for this, so if you're interested in seeing that then please let me know and (maybe) subscribe to find out when I post it 😁</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p><p> </p><p>EDIT:</p><p>Good news! More is coming to this story and it'll now be a multi-chaptered fic.<br/>Thank you for all the support and the outpouring of love I got in the comments.</p><p>Also, yes, the title and summary have changed a little but I promise it's still the same story otherwise</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Believe (In) Him  -  Pt1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is the first half of the second part everyone was asking for.</p><p>I hope you enjoy it and I'm eager to find out what you guys think in the comments.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Buck looks up from his task when he hears a familiar voice from downstairs, grabbing the dish towel to dry his hands on as he moves closer to the balcony, reaching the banister in time to hear the request for him. He smiles instantly as he spots the familiar curls of Christopher alongside Shannon, quickly dropping off the towel next to the sink again before rushing downstairs to see the pair.</p><p>“Bucky!” Chris cheers upon seeing him, wriggling in excitement as he waits for Buck to get closer before rushing at him, giggling happily as Buck lifts him easily into his arms.</p><p>“Hey, buddy,” Buck laughs at the boy’s enthusiasm, hugging him close before hugging Shannon on greeting too as the firefighter she had been talking to walks away, clearly noting that their help isn’t required now. “Hey, Shan. I thought you had him until Monday. Is everything okay?” He asks, frowning in concern as he pulls back from his hug with her, Chris still contentedly sitting in his arms.</p><p>“Everything’s fine, stop worrying.” She smiles, squeezing his upper arm with a fond look. “Someone just wanted to visit his Bucky at work.”</p><p>Buck laughs, moving his gaze to Christopher who shoots him an innocent smile. “Is that right, huh?”</p><p>The boy giggles, kicking against Buck’s body as his head drops to the man’s shoulder, making Buck smile.</p><p>Turning his attention back to Shannon, he takes in the dark circles under her eyes and frowns in concern.</p><p>“Are you sure that everything’s okay? You look like you’ve been up all night.” He tentatively queries. “If you’ve got too much going on right now, then we could have rescheduled -“</p><p>She cuts him off before he gets too far into his list of assumptions. “I am tired but it’s not what you think, and it has nothing to do with having Chris for a couple days on my own. But I appreciate the concern.” She smiles, squeezing his upper arm gently again.</p><p>Buck nods, though, the look on his face probably gives him away as not believing Shannon’s explanation for even a second. He places Chris down, feeling the boy lean against him as he waits for the two adults to finish talking.</p><p>“How’s your mom doing? Is she officially in remission yet?” Buck decides to change the subject. He acknowledges it’s not technically a happier subject but at least it's different to interrogating her about her own health and wellbeing. </p><p>Noticing her slight hesitation, he sucks in a breath to vocalise that she doesn’t need to answer that question if she doesn’t want to but she starts speaking before he can get the words out.</p><p>“She seems to be doing okay – taking all the medications and doing all the treatments properly.” She shrugs, reaching out to play with Chris' curls as the boy reaches out for his mother’s hand to offer his own form of comfort, not fully understanding but knowing enough about his grandmother’s illness to know that sometimes his mom needs a hug or a small gesture of comfort to feel better. “Her appointment to check on it, and decide if her treatments should continue, is just after lunchtime today but, with this one, I can’t go with her.” She motions to Chris, giving the boy a soft smile before looking to Buck again. “I’ll be anxiously waiting by my phone all day, no doubt, but such is life.”</p><p>Buck nods in understanding, his mind pondering her issue, before pausing as he gets an idea. “Go be with her.”</p><p>“What?” She asks, frowning confusingly at his blunt statement.</p><p>“Go to the appointment with your mother like you planned to.”</p><p>“But, it’s my weekend to look after Chris, I can’t just leave him-"</p><p>“But, you can.” Buck states. “You <em>can</em> leave him with me.”</p><p>“Evan...” Shannon trails off, exasperated. “I can’t expect you to be able to look after Chris while you’re at work. That’s just so impractical for everyone.”</p><p>“Shan, come on,” Buck holds up his hands, motioning for her to wait and hear him out. “Yes, I admit, it’s not going to be the easiest thing in the world to multitask looking after Chris and doing my job, but I can do it. He’s a good kid, and you know I’d never let anything happen to him.” He reasons with her. “I can ask my captain, but he loves kids so I doubt he’s going to say no.”</p><p>He shoots Christophe a smile when he sees Shannon deliberating the information.</p><p>“You can pick him up later or, if you want to spend some time with your mom to talk about whatever you learn at the appointment, I can call Eddie to come and collect him when he’s free and we’ll arrange some time during the week for you to make up for the time you lost this weekend with him.”</p><p>Seeing the moment she gives in, Buck high-fives Chris as the boy grins happily at the prospect of staying with Buck at the firehouse. He stands to attention again when Shannon points at him, knowing she has something to say.</p><p>“<em>Ask</em> your captain first, and if he says Chris can stay then I’ll allow it.” She stops him before he can turn to find Bobby. “And, so help me, Evan Buckley, don’t you even think about taking my son on any dangerous calls.”</p><p>Buck nods immediately. “I’ll stay behind with Chris if any big calls come in.” He reassures her before turning his attention to Christopher again. He ruffles the boys hair before crouching to be level with him. “Wait here, superman, and I’ll be back in a second, okay?”</p><p>When the boy nods, Buck stands again and leaves Chris with his mom as he jogs off to find his captain. He heads towards the man’s office first since he remembers the older man talking during breakfast about the paperwork that’s apparently building up on his desk.</p><p>He knocks on the open door when he sees the man inside, stepping inside when Bobby looks up and waves him in.</p><p>“What’s up, Buck?”</p><p>Rocking on his heels, the younger firefighter tries to figure out how to word his question to the older man. He’s already anticipating how his request is going to go over with everyone considering their views on him already.</p><p>“Can a friend’s son stay here at the firehouse with me until someone can pick him up?” Ignoring the look on Bobby’s face, he continues. “I’d also like to request to stay behind with him if big calls come in.”</p><p>Now, Bobby knows how much this job and going out on calls means to Buck so it’s a pretty big deal that he’s willingly volunteering to stay behind. Putting his papers aside, Bobby gets up and makes his way closer to Buck.</p><p>“I guess I should meet our newest recruit.”</p><p>Buck smiles, having expected that reaction, leading the man over to where Shannon and Chris are still waiting. Upon seeing Buck coming back again, Chris holds his arms out again for the man to pick him up, much to Shannon’s amusement.</p><p>Buck lifts the boy as high as he can while being careful of Chris’ crutches, smiling happily as Chris squeals in delight, before bringing the boy safely back down to sit on his hip. Shannon shakes her head at the pair but doesn’t intervene, used to their antics by now.</p><p>“Shannon, Chris, this is my captain, Bobby Nash,” Buck finally begins the introductions. “Bobby, this is Christopher and his mother, Shannon.”</p><p>He notices Bobby looking from Buck to Chris and back again, seeing the small similarities they miraculously share, before the older man clearly decides to let it go for now and greets the pair. Looking to Shannon, Buck knows that she saw it too; she also knows about the struggle he’s been having with trying to get the team to see him as anything other than a dumb kid, and she has likely already seen how the rest of the day is going to go for him based on Bobby’s reaction alone.</p><p>“So, Christopher, are you any good with the hose?” Bobby smiles kindly to the child in Buck's arms.</p><p>“I can try.” Chris giggles, making the adults smile.</p><p>“Now that’s the kind of attitude I like to see,” Bobby nods encouragingly before watching as Buck carefully places Chris down, giving the boy chance to gain his balance before letting him go completely. “How about we go show my crew how it’s really done?” Bobby offers.</p><p>Chris grins, looking to Buck and his mother for permission.</p><p>“Be good, Chris, and I’ll see you soon.” Shannon smiles, nodding that Chris can go with Bobby.</p><p>Chris nods with a happy smile before looking to Buck again, seemingly waiting for him.</p><p>“It’s okay, I’ll be there in a second.” Buck smiles, waving the boy off. “Go have fun.”</p><p>Chris, again, nods with a smile before beginning to follow Bobby as the man walks slowly towards where the rest of the crew are doing inventory, beginning to question the man about all the different compartments on the truck and what goes where.</p><p>Both Shannon and Buck watch the pair walk away before turning back to each other. Buck jolts as Shannon is suddenly in his space, hugging him tightly, but he adjusts easily and hugs her back, rubbing her back comfortingly when he hears her sniff.</p><p>“Thank you, Evan.”</p><p>He smiles gently, letting her hug him for as long as she needs to. “Hey, it’s okay. I love that kid so much - of course, I’d do anything for him.”</p><p>He continues rubbing her back gently until she begins pull away, wiping her face to try and rid any evidence of her tears.</p><p>“Oh gosh, I’m such a mess right now.”</p><p>“No, you’re not.” He states, placing his hands on her shoulders and ducking his head to meet her gaze. “You’re strong – so much stronger than I’d be in your situation. I know for a fact that I’d never be able to put on a brave face for Chris if I had a parent going through what your mom’s been through, I’d be scared <em>all the time</em> and no amount of cheerful energy from that boy would help me stop worrying.” Seeing her reluctant acceptance of his point, he decides to wrap it up quick. “Look, Eddie would agree with me and my somewhat hare-brained idea. Go be with your mom. We’ll be fine.”</p><p>“You’ll call me if it becomes too much, though. Promise me?”</p><p>“Shan,” He says. “Eddie will pick him up once he’s free, and I’ll be with Chris the whole time until then. Stop worrying about us and focus on one thing at a time. Go to the appointment with your mom, take time to digest what you learn at the appointment and I’ll call you after my shift so you can vent.”</p><p>“Thank you – so much.” Shannon sighs in apparent relief, starting to back away to leave. “I’ll talk to you later.”</p><p>“Yeah, absolutely. Now go, before LA traffic makes you late.” He smiles when he hears her laugh, waving to her before she turns and leaves the station as he turns to where he can hear Bobby introducing Chris to Hen and Chimney upstairs – Buck having seen Bobby carefully carry the boy up there in a reflection on the nearby fire truck.</p><p>Taking a deep breath in preparation, steeling himself for what’s to come, he starts to make his way upstairs to join them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Believe (In) Him - Pt 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As promised, the second half of part 2.</p><p>I'm looking forward to hearing what you think in the comments section!</p><p>If there's any typos or mistakes then please let me know so that I can fix them as soon as possible.</p><p>See you next time 😁</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“So, Buck,” Hen starts, the tone of her voice telling Buck all he needs to know about the upcoming conversation, making Buck suppress a sigh as he looks away from where Chris is “helping” Bobby prepare lunch. “You didn’t tell us you had a kid.”</p><p>He shrugs, debating with himself whether putting them right is worth the effort. No valid point of his has ever been taken seriously in the past so he’s sure that explaining Chris' part in his life would be any more believable to them. After all, he’s just the dumb kid that doesn’t know anything about a serious relationship, his mind only ever on one thing and it isn’t work.</p><p>“He’s a cute kid.” Chimney interjects before Buck can fully formulate an answer or decide what to do.</p><p>“Yeah, he is.” Buck nods in agreement as his gaze drifts back to the aforementioned boy, watching him sneak food as Bobby pretends not to notice.</p><p>“Really polite too – unlike you.” Hen adds, smirking as Buck rolls his eyes at the non-subtle dig at him.</p><p>“Oh yeah,” Chim nods in agreement. “The kid must get it from his mom because there’s no way he’d inherit it from this guy.” He slaps Buck’s shoulder as he laughs.</p><p>Reserving comment, Buck let’s them make assumptions between themselves as he turns his gaze to the phone in his hands as it vibrates quietly, a reply to his text finally coming through.</p><p>
  <strong> <em>Sorry! I had to wait for a break to text you back. Luckily I’ll be getting out early today, so I can come pick him up at around 3 when I’m on the way home. Does that work for you?</em> </strong>
  <br/>
  <strong> <em>I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble over this... 😬</em> </strong>
</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, it’s fine. My captain is cool with letting Chris stay until someone can pick him up</em>
  <br/>
  <em>How’s it going?</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Right now? Kinda feels like I’m back at boot camp.</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>That bad, huh? You poor baby, would you like a cuddle to make it all better? 😏</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>Okay, so maybe that was a little dramatic but that cuddle does sound pretty amazing...</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Fine, but you’re going to have to wait until I get home</em>
</p><p>
  <em> <strong>I know 😜</strong> </em>
  <br/>
  <em> <strong>I’ve gotta go back in but I’ll see you later</strong> </em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’ll definitely be at the station so I’ll see you then</em>
</p><p>He looks up as someone pokes him in the arm, seeing Chimney apparently waiting for an answer from him from a question he didn’t even hear.</p><p>“Pardon?”</p><p>Sighing in exasperation, the man repeats himself. “I asked why you never told us you have a son. I mean, we know how active you’ve been in the past, with a growing list of past flings, so it’s really not that surprising that one of them had consequences.”</p><p>Buck shifts uncomfortably at Chim's statement, wishing there was something – <em>anything</em> – he could say that would stop their downright disrespectful assumptions about him.</p><p>“The amount of notches in your bedpost must look like a chronic case of termites at this point.” Hen jokingly comments, before motioning for him to answer Chimney's question. “But I have the same question, so let’s hear it.”</p><p>Buck shrugs. “Just didn’t come up in conversation.”</p><p>“It’s a pretty important detail of your life to just leave out.” Hen scoffs as Chimney nods in agreement.</p><p>“Yeah, well, it’s not like we know every <em>single</em> detail of each others lives on this team,” Buck spares them a glance. “You guys might but you’ve also got to consider that you’ve known each other for longer than I’ve known any of you.”</p><p>Before they can continue their questioning, Christopher cuts in.</p><p>“Bucky!”</p><p>Looking back to the boy, Buck sees him waving him over. He gets up immediately and makes his way over to Chris, leaving Hen and Chimney without a second glance to see to whatever Chris needs from him</p><p>“What’s up, superman?”</p><p>“Look what we did!” Chris grins, clapping excitedly and rocking slightly on the stool Bobby has been letting him sit on.</p><p>Buck returns his grin as he reaches out to protect Chris from falling, noticing Bobby moving to do the same, before moving to stand behind Chris and wrap his arms around the boy in a loose hug. “It looks amazing – best chef’s helper ever.”</p><p>He smiles as Chris tips his head back against him, leaning down to press a kiss to Chris' curls, before looking to Bobby and seeing the other man watching their interaction, nodding in apparent approval when he sees Buck watching him.</p><p>Buck, inwardly happy with himself for gaining Bobby’s approval, turns his attention back to Chris. “Hey, buddy, now that you’ve finished helping Cap with food prep, do you wanna come show me how it’s done on the console?”</p><p>“Yes, please.” Chris bounce happily as he nods, reaching out for Buck as soon as the man moves from behind him to be in a better position to help him down.</p><p>“Hang on a second,” Buck bites back a fond smile as he raises an eyebrow at the boy. “What do we say to Bobby first?”</p><p>“Thank you for letting me help, Cap,” Chris obediently addresses the older man, looking to Buck to check that he got his manners right and smiling proudly when Buck nods in confirmation. </p><p>Chris is pretty good with his manners generally but can sometimes forget to use them properly when he gets excited, something that Buck, Eddie and Shannon have all been working with him on. They’ve definitely made a lot of progress with Chris only needing prompting about it every so often now.</p><p>“You’re welcome, Christopher.” Bobby smiles at the boy. “You were <em>a lot</em> of help. Thank <em>you</em> for helping.”</p><p>Buck exchanges a look with the older man before ruffling Chris' curls. “Let’s go, kiddo.”</p><p>He picks the boy up with ease, settling him against his hip and keeping him there with one arm while Chris holds onto him too, picking up the boy’s crutches with his free hand, crossing the loft and still ignoring Chim and Hen at the table as he brings Chris to the couch. He places the boy down carefully before turning to get the controllers so they can play together. Just as he reaches for them, the alarm starts reverberating around the firehouse, rapid footsteps echoing as the crew scramble for their gear.</p><p>Buck tenses, reminds himself that he chose to stay behind for Chris, before continuing with his task to set up the console for himself and Christopher. He glances over as Hen, Chimney and Bobby pass by on their way to get ready, smiling and waving them off as they throw him awkward glances – probably feeling weird about leaving him behind when he’s always been so vocal about what going out on calls and helping people means to him. </p><p>Turning back to Chris, he sees the boy sitting back on the couch with a pleased, contented smile while waiting patiently for Buck to bring him the controller to play, and he knows he’s made the right decision to stay with Chris. With a contented smile of his own, Buck joins the boy on the couch and hands over the controller as their game loads, nudging Chris gently and feeling his smile widen as the boy giggles and leans into his side easily.</p><p>-</p><p>As the alarm blares across the station again, echoing off the walls, Buck barely spares it a glance as he draws at the table with Chris. He glances up, though, when he feels a hand land on his shoulder.</p><p>“Hey, Christopher, how do you feel about coming out on a call with us?” Chimney smiles, having warmed up to the boy pretty quickly once he made the effort to interact with him.</p><p>“Chim-" Buck starts warningly, not wanting the other man to gets Chris' hopes up since Buck explicitly said that he wouldn’t be going out on any dangerous calls, or any calls at all.</p><p>“Cap already said we could – it’s just a minor fender-bender involving a couple cars, nothing too graphic for the kid.” Chimney cuts off the younger man, winking at Chris when the boy giggles at them.</p><p>Buck sighs, glancing to Bobby who’s waiting by the staircase for them and waving for them to hurry up, before standing. “Okay – let’s go be firefighters, Chris.”</p><p>He smiles as the boy cheers before picking him up easily, leaving his crutches here since the boy won’t be venturing far from the rig. Once downstairs, he sits Chris on the bench while he puts his turnout trousers on, grabbing the coat and placing it on Chris who squeals in joy, before bringing the boy over to the truck.</p><p>As they drive to the scene, Buck has his arms around Chris, smiling as he watches the team interacting with Chris and causing the boy to laugh so freely. But, once they reach the accident, Buck reluctantly relinquishes the boy into Bobby’s care, after getting his jacket back, so that he can help out Hen and Chimney on the scene.<br/>As he walks past them, Chris standing on the stairs of the truck as Bobby supports him, he ducks his head as he hears Bobby addressing the boy.</p><p>“- Do you know what happens sometimes?”</p><p>“People gets stuck.” Chris fills in.</p><p>“That’s right, people get stuck. But, we have a tool called the Jaws of Life, and that’s what your dad’s going to use right now.” Bobby carefully explains to the boy as they both watch the team work. “Thanks to him, she’s going to make it home for dinner.”</p><p>He hears Chris cheer at the last bit, and is suddenly so thankful that himself, Eddie and Shannon sat down with Chris a while ago and talked about their family dynamic now and about how people are going to make assumptions about them sometimes – for example, who his father is when he’s out with both Buck and Eddie, or out with Buck alone – so he doesn’t question it anymore. At present, though, Buck pretends not to hear them and continues with what he has to do, using the aforementioned jaws to open the car door so that Chim can give the woman a once-over before they get her out fully.</p><p>-</p><p>Once they got back to the station, Chris finished his drawing while Buck did some inventory; Hen and Chim volunteered to stay upstairs with Chris since both Buck and Bobby had things to do, which Buck knows they used as a perfect opportunity to interrogate the boy but there's nothing he could do about it while he had a job to do, at the time. Once he finished, Buck joined them upstairs again, relieving his teammates from childcare duties so they could get on with their own jobs, finding another task for himself and Christopher to do that would keep the boy occupied for a while. Eventually, though, the boy started to get tired - the excitement of being at the firehouse finally getting to him and wearing him out, well and truly - so Buck grabbed his book from his locker, thankfully at a child friendly part of the story, and read quietly to Chris on the couch, the boy lying on Buck's chest as the man leant against the arm of the couch, his legs stretched across the rest of the sofa with Christopher's whole body on top of him. It's a dirty tactic but he's all to aware that reading to Chris will send him to sleep quickly, which it does.</p><p>In present time, Buck glances up from the book he had quietly continued to read to himself once Chris fell asleep, as he hears Chim talking to someone on his way up the stairs. At first he thinks the other man is on the phone, probably to Maddie - again - but then he takes in the second lot of footsteps and realises that he's actually walking up with someone. A quick glance at the clock on his phone, showing 2:57pm gives him another clue as to the other person's identity.</p><p>"- So, are you a friend of Buck's?" He hears the tail end of whatever Chimney has been saying as he climbed the stairs, making Buck shake his head with a smile as he finally sees the pair come into view.</p><p>"Something like that." Eddie elusively answers before catching sight of Buck and Christopher, his smile softening instantly as he makes his way over to them.</p><p>"Hi, Evan," Eddie greets him, his voice lowered so he doesn't disturb the sleeping child on Buck's chest.</p><p>"Hey, Eds," Buck quietly returns the greeting, setting the book down and giving Eddie a side hug as the other man crouches in front of the sofa at the younger man's side. He feels Eddie kiss his shoulder but he doesn't - <em>can't</em> - acknowledge it.</p><p>Instead, Buck turns his attention to Chris once Eddie moves back again, rubbing the boy's back gently but with enough pressure to rouse the boy from his sleep. It takes a second but Chris, eventually, begins to awaken again. The snuffles against Buck's chest before blearily opening his eyes to look at the man.</p><p>"Hey, superman, look who's here?" He talks quietly, gently, to the boy so that he doesn't startle the boy.</p><p>Chris blinks a few times before moving his head enough to see who has joined them, lighting up instantly and wriggling against Buck to get closer to his father.</p><p>"Dad!" His voice echoes across the loft and Buck can tell the others heard it.</p><p>Eddie laughs, taking the boy from Buck and hugging him back. He sends the younger man a thankful look when Buck moves his legs so that Eddie can join him on the couch with Christopher in his lap, Buck knowing how tired the older man must feel after today.</p><p>"- It was so much fun. I got to see all the stuff on the truck, and help out here. I even got to go on a call with Bucky. And, and-" Christopher is talking a mile a minute, making Eddie laugh as he tries to keep up before cutting the boy off gently.</p><p>"Hey - we've got the rest of the day for you to tell me all about your time here, let's not rush through it all now. We wouldn't want to miss out on any of the details."</p><p>Chris blushes. "Sorry, dad. I just got excited."</p><p>"I know - and I'm excited to hear all about it - but let's say goodbye to Buck and get home first."</p><p>Chris looks to Buck and back to his father again, pouting. "Bucky's not coming home too?"</p><p>Buck smiles, rubbing the boy's back gently. "Not yet - you'll be tucked up in bed, dreaming about all kinds of magical things, by the time I finish work today, buddy." He answers quietly, just for Eddie and Chris to hear. "I'll still come and give you a goodnight kiss but you just won't know I was there."</p><p>"I'll know." Christopher insists. "I'll stay awake so I can see you when you get back."</p><p>"I appreciate that, buddy, but it'll be <em>really</em> late - even your dad will be asleep by then, all tucked up in his own bed, snoring-" He's cut off by Christopher's giggles, Eddie nudging him in the ribs gently for teasing him. Buck continues as they boy calms down. "I don't mind if you're asleep when I get back, because I know you're both safe and that I'll see you in the morning where we'll have breakfast together, as a family."</p><p>Both men watch as Chris debates it before nodding. "Okay, but I still wanna try and stay awake to see you."</p><p>"Yeah, we'll see about that." Eddie smirks before standing up with his son in his arms, Buck standing too and stretching languidly beside him.</p><p>Buck sees his husband's eyes taking him in and sticks his tongue out at the older man cheekily, making Eddie shake his head with a smile, before crossing the loft to grab Chris' crutches from over by the breakfast bar.</p><p>"Is it time for him to go home?" Bobby looks up from where he's beginning to prep for dinner to ask. Buck knows he heard Chris greet Eddie as his father, and that the other man is ignoring his own earlier comments in favour of not making things awkward. Buck somewhat spitefully decides to rub it in.</p><p>Buck nods, motioning to Eddie. "Yeah, his <em>dad</em> is here to pick him up."</p><p>The older man nods before joining Buck as he crosses the loft again so that he can say goodbye to Chris too.</p><p>"It was fun meeting you, kid," Bobby smiles, ruffling Chris' curls. "Stay safe, and we'll see you around sometime."</p><p>"You've got it, Cap." Chris nods, grinning at the other man.</p><p>"He's a great kid - you're a lucky guy." Bobby addresses Eddie who ducks his head with a smile, blushing slightly under the praise, before the older man slaps Buck on the shoulder. "You'd better walk these two out - but don't take too long because I'm going to need your help preparing dinner for this lot."</p><p>"Yes, Cap," Buck nods before leading Eddie back downstairs.</p><p>As they cross the bottom floor and head towards the door, Chim and Hen call out goodbyes to Chris and a couple of the others on the crew wave goodbye, as the boy smiles and waves over his dad's shoulder to everyone. Once they're outside the station, out of view of any of the team, Buck manoeuvres Eddie in of him and kisses him gently. They both pull away smiling as Chris pretends to be disgusted with them but they all know he's fine with it as long as they don't get too "mushy" around him.</p><p>Eddie places Chris down on to his own feet, Buck handing the boy his crutches and keeping an eye on him while he gets situated with them before Chris nods that he's fine. With Chris out of the way, Buck hugs Eddie like he's been wanting to since the other man arrived at the station. Eddie hugs him back as tightly, rubbing the younger man's back before they pull away.</p><p>"Say thanks, again, to your captain for letting this one stay." He motions with his head to Chris who is waiting to say goodbye to Buck.</p><p>"Like I told Shannon, don't worry about it, they all love kids so I knew it was going to be fine."</p><p>"But, still-"</p><p>"Okay - fine, I'll tell him. Again." Buck smiles, before hugging his husband once more and sharing another kiss. "I'll see you later - I'll miss you. I love you."</p><p>Eddie smiles, kissing Buck's cheek before the other man fully pulls away. "We'll miss you too. I love you too, Cariño"</p><p>Next, Buck crouches and holds his arms out for a big hug from Chris. The boy is all too happy to oblige, crashing into his chest in a fit of cheerful giggles. Buck hums happily as he hugs the boy, wishing Chris would stay this small and open to affection forever but knowing there will come a day that all changes, savouring the moment while it lasts.</p><p>"Be good, superman, and I'll be home as soon as I can."</p><p>"See you later, alligator." Chris smiles as he leans back against his dad. “I love you, Bucky.”</p><p>Buck laughs, tickling Chris' stomach as the dissolves into laughter as he replies. "In a while, crocodile. I love you too, kid."</p><p>He stands to his full height again, taking in the pair in front of him one last time, before beginning to back up. "I've got to go but I'll be home soon."</p><p>They wave to him before he turns, re-entering the firehouse to join Bobby upstairs. As he crosses the bottom floor, he catches sight of Bobby at the railing, Hen and Chim either side of him, watching him with a certain look on their faces - the look that indicates they don't believe for a second what he's just said, usually.</p><p>"What?" He shrugs. "I did say he was a friend's son. It's not my fault you ignored that and made assumptions."</p><p>They all roll their eyes and move back out of sight, further into the loft. Buck smiles to himself as he jogs up the stairs, feeling vindicated this time around. Maybe next time, they'll believe him. Maybe they'll even believe <em>in</em> him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, there you have it, part 2 of Believe (In) Us is finished.</p><p>I am planning on writing another part for this but it is, unfortunately, likely going to be a while until that will be posted. So, in the interest of not putting off prospective readers, I'm going to mark this as complete, but there WILL be at least one more part coming.</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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